Abstract: An MRI apparatus is presented that includes a computer programmed to sample a single volume element (voxel) for MR spectroscopy and automatically determine respective metabolite concentrations for multiple compartment contained in the single voxel. The invention is effective in assigning metabolite concentrations to specific tissue types on a per-voxel basis for a VOI. Moreover, the invention is effective in providing metabolite concentrations for a voxel independent of that voxel's vicinity relative to the coils of the phased array. The present invention provides an effective tool in assigning metabolite concentrations from mixed pathological and normal tissues.